We’re meeting with Minister Goodale on C-51, and we want you to make sure your voices are heard: What should we say?

We are meeting in person with Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Ralph Goodale to discuss Bill C-51 and we need you to tell us what you want us to say to him. Comment away below!

Alright OpenMedia community, we need your help!

On Thursday, May 5, OpenMedia will be meeting in person with Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Ralph Goodale to discuss Bill C-51.

This is where you come in: We need you to tell us what you want us to say!

You have been at the heart of this campaign from the very start. Over 300,000 people have spoken up against this dangerous and ineffective bill. Protests and rallies have been held across the country. Tens of thousands of emails have been sent to MPs. Artists, business leaders, law professors, civil society groups, academics, and experts have all spoken out against this reckless legislation that jeopardizes our rights and freedoms.

Now we need your help again: Tell us what you want us to say to Minister Goodale!

Ralph Goodale, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, has been explicitly tasked by the Prime Minister with dealing with the legacy of C-51. This meeting is our best chance to help shape the upcoming public consultations, and make sure that Minister Goodale knows exactly what Canadians want done with this extreme bill.

We’ve been campaigning on this issue for over a year. We know a lot of what you think, but we also want to make sure that you have your chance to speak up.

What is your #1 priority for us to raise with Minister Goodale during our meeting?

Provide your insights adding your voices in the comments below, or by commenting on Facebook or Twitter using the #C51withGoodale.  

As a reminder, here are some of the major concerns you’ve identified, and how the impacts of C-51 have already begun to be felt across the country:

• Dangerous information sharing provisions allow government information to be shared between 17 different departments, without any warrants required, or adequate oversight. Recent information on the extent of government privacy breaches only makes this even more concerning.

• Internet service providers and telecom providers are now required to remove content that provides or links to what the legislation vaguely defines as ‘terrorist propaganda’. Margaret Atwood and hundreds of artists and creators have sounded the alarm about how this opens the door to highly problematic censorship online.

• CSIS has been given new disruption powers, which it claims to have already used almost two dozen times since the bill was passed last summer.

Need a few more suggestions to get you started on your comments? Here are some examples of what we’ve been hearing on Facebook so far:

• "The entire bill should be abolished. It is an incredibly large violation of individual rights and freedoms in this country."

• "If this government screws this one up, it will lose a lot of the good faith that it was gifted it during the election. First, it should refresh its memory on what hundreds of thousands of Canadians, including legal scholars, told the Harper Gang when it was busy ramming Bill C-51 down our throats. If it would acknowledge this, public consultations would not be necessary. It would simply repeal C-51 in its entirety."

Let’s recap some of the key events to date:

• C-51 was introduced on January 30, 2015

• A national day of action saw protests in over 70 communities across the country.

• C-51 received royal assent on June 18, 2015.

• In November 2015, OpenMedia joined 40 other organizations in calling for public consultations on C-51, to ensure that our voices are heard throughout the process.

• In January 2016, Minister Goodale confirmed that public consultations were next on the agenda, before any possible reforms.  

• On May 5, 2016, OpenMedia’s own Laura Tribe and Steve Anderson will be meeting with Minister Goodale to bring your voices to the table, and deliver the names of those who have spoken out at https://killc51.ca.

This is our best chance to ensure that your issues are a part of the consultation agenda. Before it’s too late.

We want to make sure your voices are heard. Tell us what you want us to say!

Add your voice in the comments below, or by commenting on Facebook or Twitter using the #C51withGoodale.

Already shared your comments, and looking to do more? Feel free to send your MP a note about what you want the public consultations to look like, using our tool athttps://killc51.ca/mp.​